484 pages
English language
Published April 13, 2016
A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions. Now, the city's god is dead. The city itself lies in ruins. And to its new military occupiers, the once-powerful capital is a wasteland of sectarian violence and bloody uprisings. So it makes perfect sense that General Turyin Mulaghesh—foul-mouthed hero of the battle of Bulikov, rumored war criminal, ally of an embattled Prime Minister—has been exiled there to count down the days until she can draw her pension and be forgotten. At least, it makes the perfect cover story"
Back to the rich world of The Divine Cities trilogy, this book follows Turyin Mulaghesh instead of Shara Komayd (the protagonist of the first book). Mulaghesh is called out of retirement to look into the disappearance of a Saypuri agent in the deceased war goddess' city.
The story is soberingly tragic despite some victories.
Aftwr seven years I finally picked up the second book in this trilogy. I had only vague memories of what had happened, but that wasn't a problem. This book is set years after the first one and the events are mentioned in sufficient detail. I enjoyed Mulagesh as the POV protagonist and the story had again world-ending stakes and a satisfying conclusion.
In this second volume, yet another exercise in theofiction, one of the dead gods is resurrected. As she is recognizable as Kali, this is rather bad news. Her opponent, one of the main characters from the first volume, is an army vet who has been drinking to forget her manifold slaughterings. The story chugs along, but I can' say I found it particularly gripping. Redemption of drunken ex-soldiers is not really my thing.
Great story
I found this a truly original fantasy, esp in terms of setting. It's kinda neo-industrial, with "modern" technology: cars, rifles, etc. What really hooked me was some original and very likeable characters and a fast-moving plot. Also, the book was not a 1000 page fantasy novel! Less than half that.
I would have given it 5 starts except for the whole "the gods are dead but wait they're not really" angle. Probably just personal taste, but I find there's no way to introduce divinities in a fantasy to my satisfaction. It usually ends up sounding kind of lame or forced. But it was a fun read and I've already gotten the first one to read next.
The world of the "City of" books is just amazing - three dimensional, grim, full of sly humour. This wasn't quite as good, perhaps, as City of Stairs but I am torn - the ending of the first book was far more hopeful. While far from nihilistic, the ending of this one leaves Saypur in a darker place.
3.5* This was a nice continuation of people, places, and mythos from the previous book. I enjoyed that it went in a rather different direction with some deeply different stories by following Mulaghesh.
While I liked the story I wasn't always so keen on Mulaghesh being so erratically flippant or panicked. I expected some but it seemed to vibrate more than necessary. In the end the characters played out right. Some as most often, sadly so, but their meeting, learning, and then leaving was well rounded.
If this is the second in a three part series I am very interested in where they go from here. Robert is a careful and very capable story teller that is not afraid to show us different angles of the human psyche and the potentials of divinities who can be both affected and effected by their rules and influences of their followers.
I hope …
3.5* This was a nice continuation of people, places, and mythos from the previous book. I enjoyed that it went in a rather different direction with some deeply different stories by following Mulaghesh.
While I liked the story I wasn't always so keen on Mulaghesh being so erratically flippant or panicked. I expected some but it seemed to vibrate more than necessary. In the end the characters played out right. Some as most often, sadly so, but their meeting, learning, and then leaving was well rounded.
If this is the second in a three part series I am very interested in where they go from here. Robert is a careful and very capable story teller that is not afraid to show us different angles of the human psyche and the potentials of divinities who can be both affected and effected by their rules and influences of their followers.
I hope to revisit again.
More stories from the world of City of Stairs. Brilliant stuff.
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2016/02/back-to-world-of-gods.html
